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Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed
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Graphics & Sound:
I could start this off by saying that the wars are finally in the stars for Star Wars Galaxies players, but I won’t do that to you guys. Jump to Lightspeed is the final piece of the Galaxies puzzle, adding the ability to create, customize, and fly your own ship. Besides no longer having to wait at starports, JTLS offers new space-based combat as well as a few new enhancements to the game.
Space elements not withstanding, Jump to Lightspeed also brings with it minor graphical enhancements to the ground game. The upgrade isn’t massive, but is significant enough to notice. In fact, even players who haven’t made the jump should notice that over the last few weeks, things have been changing in the game world. Menus are a little cleaner, colors are bolder, and the game just feels stronger overall. In addition, new emoticons have been included. But, I digress...
Once in space, Jump to Lightspeed is damn impressive. Ship detail is great and tops anything we’ve seen in previous Star Wars games. What makes ships even better is that you can customize them based on colors you choose or components you equip them with. Texture and color kits are available which will allow you to place various designs on your ship -- including flames and tiger stripes. Similar to speeder bikes, the primary and secondary colors of ships can also be customized. If you’ve ever dreamed of flying a pink and yellow TIE Fighter, Jump to Lightspeed gives you just that chance.
Space environments are clean and feature their own unique elements, such as asteroid fields and nebulae. Some areas also feature elements like space stations, transport ships, and other civilian vessels.
Sound was a bit of a misstep with Galaxies, and while music on the ground still leaves a lot of be desired, music in-flight makes up for it. Drawing heavily from the Original Trilogy soundtracks, music really helps to set the Star Wars mood while flying. During flight the soundtrack is silent, similar to while on the ground. When approaching a mission waypoint or engaging fighters, classic space themes from the movies kick in. It may not be exactly what fans want (I still think a dynamic system like the one found in Alliance would have rocked), it’s a big improvement over what we’ve been dealing with for the last year. Sound effects are classic Star Wars, including the whine of TIE engines, the distinct blast of an X-Wing’s cannons, and the punch as you jump into hyperspace. |
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Gameplay:
Your flight career begins with a simple series of emails. Your first contact will be from the Empire, encouraging you to join the academy. You may also find yourself in the service of Corsec, the Smuggler’s Guild, or Naboo Royal Security. Soon after a scrambled message will display, offering you an opportunity to fly for the Rebellion. After joining up, it’s time to get a starter ship. Players who have been active in the game for 180 days will also be awarded with a Luxury Yacht to fly in.
In addition to the requisite X-Wing and TIE fighter models, more than 15 different vehicles are available to players. These include faction specific ships like Y-Wings, B-Wings, and a crop of TIE Fighter Models. Other recognizable craft from the Star Wars universe also available. Access to ships is gated and based on how far up the piloting trees each player is. Rookie pilots will be able to access basic craft like TIE Fighters and Headhunters, but higher level pilots will be able to fly A-Wing and B-Wing star fighters, the TIE Advance and even multiplayer craft like the YT-1300 (the model of the Millenium Falcon) and Decimator. Faction alignment also dictates which ships players can fly.
One of the bigger disappointments with the ship selection is that both Rebel and Imperial players are completely locked out of the chance to use the YT-1300. Both factions have their equivalents (the Imperial Decimator and Rebel Nova), but it’s still a bit of a blow to the fan base since this was easily one of the ships players were most looking forward too. The Firespray, A.K.A. Boba Fett’s Slave I, is also available, but is a rare find since pieces of the schematics must be looted in order craft one.
Taking a cue from the Force Sensitive and Jedi progression methods, pilot progression is mission based. Pilot skills are gated and set on rows, or Tiers. In order to unlock a new tier, the tier below it must be completed. Most unlocks can be accessed after completing a mission, but some have an experience requirement. Missions include search and destroy missions as well as escort and sabotage. The structure is fun and keeps the process from settling into too much of a grind – although once you reach Tier 4 the experience requirements get expensive. While it may come as a turn off to players who want to go it alone, it plays to the benefit of players who can work in groups.
In addition to the pilot profession, Jump to Lightspeed also adds the Shipwright profession. Whereas pilot professions require no skill points, Shipwrights will have to master the engineering line of the Artisan tree as well as purchase Shipwright skills.
Two new playable races, the Sullustans and Ithorians have also been added. |
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Difficulty:
A concept that still seems to elude many people, including some of those in the press, is that Galaxies is largely based on group gameplay and teamwork. Without a strong support group of friends, regardless of the aims of your play style, it’s unlikely you’ll get far in Galaxies. Jump to Lightspeed builds on these same principles by relying heavily on squadron tactics to complete missions. Though a few missions can be handled by a solo pilot, a number of them -- especially those required to unlock skills in the third and fourth tiers -- require players to group up with other players to complete.
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Game Mechanics:
A pilot is only as good as his ship. No matter how good you are at flight games, a big part of Jump to Lightspeed is based on how good of a ship you have. This is based on the components you place in your ship, which include weapons systems, shields and engines. Components can be looted from NPC ships or built by your friendly neighborhood Shipwright. Some components will also be awarded for completing missions. The components you loot vary from good to not so good -- making it a completely random luck of the draw. Similar to weapons and starships, components are ranked. Higher certified parts are usually better, but this isn’t always the case. In addition, higher ranked parts aren’t always better. I’ve actually looted level 5 and 6 components that were no better than some level 2 items. However, there is a relationship between the component level and the Tier rankings of ships you take out, once again bringing the entire game back to group play. Better-organized groups can easily handle high-ranking areas, netting more powerful components and a better fleet for your guild.
By bringing looted components, regardless of level, to Shipwrights, you can get more bang for your buck. In addition to building chassis’s for your ships, Shipwrights can also reverse engineer components. By doing this, components can be reconstructed to increase their performance, thus improving the overall performance of your ship. Once you equip a component to your ship, you can remove it at any time, giving players freedom to swap out parts on different ships based on the situation they’re going into.
Leaving the ground game’s problems aside, Lightspeed heralds in a completely new mechanic into the game. Flying is player-skill based rather than character-skill based, as it is on the ground. Since the game is twitch/action based, players will have to get used to a new control system while out in space. Jump to Lightspeed supports both mouse and joystick controls. Which is better is largely up to the player. I prefer using a joystick, but I’ve met players who swear by the mouse interface. How well your ship handles is based on your ship and player skill. Unlike the ground game, there are no skill mods to make you a better pilot (including the Force Sensitive Vehicular Control skills). Handling also varies between ships. Flying a Y-Wing is not like flying an X-Wing. Aspects of control, namely Joystick Sensitivity and Dead Zone, can be changed in the options menu, as can button assignments.
The circle is now complete. If you’re still on the fence about a purchase, Jump to Lightspeed is well worth the price. |
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-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker |
Minimum System Requirements:
933 MHz Processor, 256 MB RAM, 32 MB Video Card w/hardware Texture & Lighting support, 56K Internet Connection
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Test System:
Windows XP, Pentium 4 1.7 GHz, Radeon 9100 128 MB, 40 Gig HD, 640 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0
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